The invention generally relates to an apparatus used to simulate the behavior of a vehicle occupant and the safety restraint system in a rollover accident.
Those individuals and companies involved in the design and development of safety restraint systems have found it beneficial to evaluate the behavior of these systems in a dynamic environment. Various test apparatus exist for testing and simulating frontal and side impact collisions. These apparatus typically include a sled which is either propelled down a guide way via a spring into a barrier thereby simulating the crash. Alternatively, a stationary sled is pushed or poked by a movable piston to simulate the crash. This type of sled is known as a "Hyge" sled. Situated upon or attached to the movable portion of the sled is an actual vehicle, vehicle part or test buck which includes a portion of a vehicle such as the passenger compartment, seats, door, roof and/or instrument panel. The seat and the vehicle are equipped with the various safety restraint systems, which may include a three-point or seat-integrated seat belt system as well as appropriate frontal and side impact air bag systems. An instrumented dummy is secured to the seat (as would be an actual occupant) and the vehicle tested and data gathered.
In addition to simulating the frontal and side impact collisions, it is also desirable to be able to simulate, and thereby evaluate, the performance of an occupant safety restraint system during a rollover accident to effectively develop safety countermeasures.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a rollover test apparatus. Accordingly the invention comprises: an apparatus to simulate the behavior of vehicle occupant and safety system in a rollover accident, comprising: a frame adapted to receive a portion of a vehicle to be tested including test buck, the frame being articulated about a pivot 36 to enable it to rotate a predetermined amount; forcing means 24,72 for causing the frame and vehicle to rotate. As can be appreciated, the vehicle (or part of the vehicle to be tested or test buck) may include one or more seats, a vehicle side portion and a side impact safety system deployed generally from one of the seat, the vehicle side portion or vehicle roof rail as well as an instrumented test dummy. In the preferred embodiment the Hyge sled, has a movable sled, carriage or sled carriage 26 and piston 24. The piston is used to move the frame and cause it to rotate. The system may optionally include a tether means secured to the frame for causing the frame to begin to rotate when the frame is moved in the first direction. This tether can be fixed or can be used to forcibly rotate the frame.